Readers 2 Leaders

Readers 2 Leaders strengthens literacy by placing students at the center of everything we do. We provide direct support for students while equipping the educators, families, and community partners who influence their reading development. Each strategy reaches a different audience, but all work toward the same mission: equipping students for success through the power of reading.

Our structured literacy instruction reaches students across multiple touchpoints throughout the day and year. During the school day, we partner with schools to provide small-group reading intervention for students identified through assessment data, following the natural progression of reading development rather than any single classroom curriculum. This fall, we will partner with Garland ISD to provide high-impact tutoring while piloting an Outcome-Based Contracting (OBC) model. OBC is an approach that aligns funding with measurable student outcomes while providing implementation support and continuous improvement throughout the partnership. We are excited for the opportunity to further strengthen our program, demonstrate the impact of our work, and contribute to the growing evidence base for effective literacy interventions. 

In After-School, that same structured instruction is paired with STEM, read-alouds, and collaborative projects, giving students room to apply new skills while building confidence and a genuine love of reading. In the summer, we expand access through two models: a comprehensive program at our Booktown Learning Center that blends literacy with enrichment like art, field experiences, and social-emotional learning, and partnerships with community organizations where we deliver targeted literacy instruction within their existing summer programming.

Beyond direct student instruction, Readers 2 Leaders builds lasting literacy capacity across the community. We provide coaching to teachers through classroom observation, lesson modeling, co-teaching, and data analysis, strengthening instructional practice in ways that benefit not just this year's students but those who follow. Our Family Reading Cohort extends that same evidence-based approach to caregivers, helping them understand how reading actually works so they can meaningfully reinforce what their children are learning at home. Together, these programs form a full ecosystem of literacy support, spanning the school day, after-school hours, summer months, and the classrooms and homes where learning takes root.

For eight years, the Devereaux Family Foundation has generously supported our North Texas Giving Day Campaign as the matching donor sponsor, contributing more than $500,000, and their continued involvement encourages us to reach new heights. Last year, with a $60,000 donation match, we exceeded our $130,000 goal by raising more than $160,000! 

In June, the Devereaux family made a surprise commitment with a three-year investment pledge of $180,000 for future Giving Days. They also challenged us to seek new matching donations for our 2026 North Texas Giving Day Campaign, themed Reading is a Science, “which I believe will motivate us all to aim higher,” says Norma Nelson, President and CEO.

We are thrilled to announce that we have received two new donations: one from the Dill Foundation and another from an anonymous foundation, bringing the total to $45,000, demonstrating ongoing support for our Campaign.

With gratitude to the Devereaux Family, we thank them for their generous support of Readers 2 Leaders’ programs for both students and adults. We are also grateful to our new matching donors for their support this year, providing us with a grand total of $105,000 for this year’s North Texas Giving Day.